Review Kung Fu Jungle (2014) (A fight against boredom)

genre: martial arts, action

The latest featuring Donnie Yen and sadly I have to report another one that fails to make an impression. It's not that Donnie Yen doesn't deliver on good action. He does, but compared to say Flashpoint or even Special I.D. it's sub par. His first fight scene shows promise for the remainder of the movie and got me all excited of what was to come. Only to find out that this first scene was probably the best fight scene of the whole movie. Thing is Donnie Yen only has real fights in the beginning and the final. Every other action scene is focused on the villain or Donnie Yen's character having little skirmishes with the police. He is supposed to be aiding them in apprehending this serial killer who uses some kind of kung fu to do it. Most fights for me weren't that exciting to look at it because the use of wires and cgi made it look real fake. Not that I object to it as long as it brings some excitement to the table. Only here it felt like they weren't even trying that hard and came off as generic. Add to that that there is far too much attention on the plot that is ridiculous and extremely dull. The premise if you read about it sounds quite interesting and really could have been good if the direction had been better. Not that I care much for plot in films like these. But you are kinda forced to since the action scenes won't grab your attention as they should.

Now what really is weird is the fact that Kung Fu Jungle is getting a lot of praise. Or barely any negative reviews. Special I.D. for example got slammed by the press and that one is superior to this one. Which does make me wonder why this could be. Well, the little tribute to older Kung Fu stars who feature in cameos might have something to do with that. But honestly people that sure is reaching. Overall I think Kung Fu Jungle is a complete waste of time and makes me wish that Donnie Yen would be more critical of the movies he picks to be in.